Although the Lamplighters (and the Faerun they know and love) reside on the Prime Material Plane, our heroes have also traveled to the Feywild, a realm of cloying faerie magic, felt the cold touch of the melancholy Shadowfell, defeated ravenous demons of the Abyss and defied their eternally vigilant and nefarious enemies, the devils of the Nine Hells. They’ve been ambushed by Phase Spiders whose natural habitat is the Ethereal Plane and are attempting to close a rift between their world and the great maelstrom of the Elemental Chaos.

So how does it all fit together? Faerun’s scholars have debated that very question for centuries. The current, most prevalent model is that of the Great Wheel:

This sigil shows how The Prime Material Plane, (where Faerun exists–as do other worlds, according to scholars), is mirrored by the Shadowfell and Feywild. These are surrounded by the Ethereal Plane, which is itself nested inside of the Elemental Chaos. Together, these comprise the “Inner Planes”.

Beyond their borders, scholars surmise, are the planes of Law, Chaos, Good and Evil–where the Gods reside. Each of these is unique and a dimension unto itself in the great Astral Sea, beyond which only the rawest forms of positive and negative energy exist. Some believe there may be more even further out…

Other planes and ways to travel between them are the business of no-gooders, greedy adventurers, evil cultists, insane wizards, and highfalutin’ scholars; it isn’t here nor there to your average merchant or sheepherder, beyond praying for good fortune or lots of wool. But for those whose paths cross these ephemeral barriers, and whose task it has become to defend against evils emerging therefrom…well, it pays to know what you can. The Wheel spins the fate of all.